Chapter 7 The Five-Star Restaurant

It was nearly time for my shift to be over. And Jones was getting ready to leave. I, on the other hand, was mentally preparing myself for my date.

"Well, I'm out, Kid," Jones said as he pulled on his jacket. "If you feel like your in danger, call anyone else but me, please."

"Wow, thanks for looking out for me," I laughed as he made his way out of the station. I started getting my things together to leave for my date. After everything was ready for me to grab and go, I grabbed the boxes with the shoes and dress and went off to the locker room to change.

The dress fit like a glove. It accentuated my waist and showed off the skin of my collarbones and the upper part of my chest. For a quick second, I wondered how he knew my size before realizing it was better I didn't know. The shoes took me a while to strap up but once I did, I realized how uncomfortable they were. If I stood in them longer than two minutes made my feet hurt. Maybe that was why I stuck to flats and sneakers.

I walked through the station back to my desk. I felt eyes on me. I kept my eyes forward, not looking at the men around as they stared at me. I mean, of course these guys would stare. They have nothing better to do. And I was the new girl who only wore dress pants, blouses, and sneakers.

Once back to my desk a whistle was let out behind me. I turned around to see Sanchez and Richmond sitting at their desks, staring at me.

"Well Barnes," Sanchez called out from the desk behind mine, "you clean up nice."

"All I did was put on a dress and dumb heels," I said. "You should see me when I actually try. With my hair done up nice and some more makeup on."

"You have a hot date?" Sanchez asked. He raised a questioning eyebrow towards me.

"Something like that," I said. I grabbed my bag and put the last of my files into it. "So if you don't hear from me by tomorrow afternoon, Jones knows who it is."

"Someone we know?" Richmond asked as he leaned over his desk and placed his head on his hands.

"I hope not," I laughed. I slipped my bag onto my shoulder and said. "Well I gotta go. He should be waiting for me outside."

"Have fun, beautiful!" Sanchez called out. "But not too much fun, you have work tomorrow."

I shook my head. I waved goodbye to them as I went to exit the building. I got outside and looked for the car that was supposed to be waiting for me. At the corner of the block, there was a matte black Mercedes. An Asian man leaned against the hood. It was the same guy from the day RM came to meet me. The man who shoved me into the car.

As I looked at the new-to me car, I couldn't help but wonder, how many black cars does RM own? And did he only own black cars? Was it a mafia thing to only have black cars?

When the man noticed that I was looking at him he stepped away from the car and started walking towards me with a cute, nervous smile on his face. I made my way towards him and nearly tripped because of the heels. As I looked up after balancing myself out, I saw the man laughing at me.

"You look like a baby duck," he laughed when he got close to my awkward figure.

"Thanks," I said. "I don't remember the last time I walked in heels."

"Let me help," he said, holding out his arm for me to hold onto. I took it gratefully and he led me to the car. He opened the back door for me to slip into before going around to the driver's door. He started the car and went to pull onto the street.

"Boss is waiting for you at the restaurant," he said. "He'll be happy that you didn't ditch him."

"Well I did think about it," I told him honestly.

"I actually thought that you wouldn't show up," he laughed. "I told Boss that and he nearly shot me. Then I made a bet with some of the other guys I work with behind his back."

"Can you tell me what your name is?"

"JK."

"Is that your real name or just what you're supposed to tell me?"

"I'll let you figure that out. You are the detective."

I looked out the window as JK got further from the station. We were getting closer to the center of town, I realized. Only expensive restaurants were there. I remember because my parents would go on dates to one of these restaurants once a year, their anniversary. Dad still goes on their anniversary, but alone to remember Mom.

"I hope you know that I'm not used to this," JK said.

"To what?" I asked.

"Driving someone around that's not my boss. And especially not a pretty girl."

"Why doesn't RM drive himself? Why didn't he just pick me up?"

I was honestly curious about why a powerful man such as RM wouldn't drive himself anywhere.

"He doesn't have a license. It's for the good of everyone."

"Is he that bad at driving? Or does he just not want to drive?"

"I've been told that every car he's tried driving had extensive damage done to it. And even though I've never seen it, I believe it."

I laughed hysterically. What kind of mafia boss can't drive? And especially someone as powerful as RM. A powerful man who I know is dangerous. He didn't seem evil, just cunning. He had to be a good man, right? Besides, he bought me a dress.

"JK, I have a question. You don't have to answer it though, if you don't want to."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Is RM a good boss? Does he treat the people who work for him well? He doesn't seem evil and diabolical."

"He's not an evil man, that much I know for certain. And as long as his workers do what's expected of them he treats them just like any other company would. Like if rent is paid on time, no damages to our goods, you know regular business things."

"Sure, business things. Nothing illegal, right?"

"Of course." JK smirked back at me.

"What's the worst thing you've ever done? Just curious."

"That's been proven?"

"Sure."

"I peed in the local pool when I was younger. My mom caught me and made me apologize. The lifeguards just laughed at me."

I couldn't help but laugh at his answer. Peeing in the pool is something everyone does but doesn't admit. And if that's the only thing that can be proven, he must have done some worse things as well.

"I like you, JK. You're funny."

"Thanks, Barnes. I appreciate it."

///

JK and I talked the entire ride to the secret restaurant location. And when JK stopped the cat, I gaped out the window. JK had stopped in front of one of the most expensive buildings in the middle of the city, The Wings Building. There were offices of multi-million dollar companies, along with offices of high-end lawyers, and at the very top of the building, a restaurant. The most expensive five-star restaurant in the city with the most amazing view of the city, The Winged Skyline.

My parents had said that if they reach their fifty year anniversary, they would come here. But of course that dream was cut short. I thought I would never come here in my life, yet here I was, about to have dinner here with a mafia boss.

"Are you sure I'm meeting him here?" I asked JK as I slid my hand into his to help me out of the car.

"Very sure," JK said. "Our 'company' owns the building. And we're all co-owners of the restaurant."

I looked at the man with a look of disbelief and my jaw hanging open. He just smirked up at the building. He knew that I knew what building this was and what kind of restaurant was located here. He almost looked glad that his boss was able to surprise me like this.

"Just go straight up, and the staff at the restaurant will meet you," JK said as he led me inside. "I'll see you later tonight to pick you and the boss up."

And just like that JK turned around and left me alone. The only thing I took with me from the car was my phone and my wallet. JK told me that I could leave everything else in the car as we got close. I made him promise that he wouldn't look through my things since I had classified files in there.

I made my way through the bottom floor with no resistance. No one in the lobby gave me a look. I quickly found the elevator and traveled up to the top floor.

Once the elevator doors opened I was greeted with romantic lighting, red carpets and white table clothes. My jaw dropped at how literally perfect everything looked. My eyes then caught those of a hostess who was gazing at me with a large smile. I could tell that she was clearly well paid just by the way she was dressed.

"Welcome, Miss. I'll direct you to your table," she said. She started walking to one of the back rooms of the restaurant, the most expensive and hard-to-get tables that have the most beautiful views of the city.

That's when I noticed that there was no one else in the restaurant, which made me a bit worried. For a Friday night, there would be plenty of people at the restaurant to enjoy an elegant evening out. But no one was here.

The hostess opened the door to the private section of the restaurant. The only person in there was RM, sitting at the table in the middle of the large window overlooking the city. He, himself, was gazing out at the skyline of the city. I don't know if he noticed my entrance yet. The hostess gestured to RM with a smile before she turned and walked out.

The table was circular with a white table cloth. The chairs were dark wood with soft red cushions on the seat and the back. The place settings were colored red and white, and were immaculate. In the middle of the table was a single burning candle. It was incredibly romantic. My heart couldn't help but to soften at the atmosphere he made for this - I didn't know if it was one or not - date. I walked over and pulled out the chair across from him. He stood up, which made me look over at him. He held a hand up to stop me from moving.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" I asked as he walked around the table to behind my chair.

RM chuckled as he held the back of the chair. I went to sit in the chair and he moved the chair in behind me and moving me close to the table. He then went back to his chair. He leaned back in the chair and gazed at me up and down.

"You look beautiful," RM said. "I'm glad that the dress fits."

"The shoes are a bit uncomfortable," I commented.

"My mistake, I thought someone as short you would wear heels often," RM said.

I sighed at his comment. I got a lot of short comments throughout my life. But even though his comment made me a bit upset, I couldn't help but look at how handsome he looked. He wore a tailored black suit with a white button up shirt and a black bow-tie with an expensive watch on his wrist. His hair was perfectly styled, not a hair out of place.

"I hope that JK was nice to you. And Prince was polite when he dropped off the clothes," RM said.

"JK was very nice. We had a wonderful conversation on the ride here. I learned that he's actually pretty funny," I said. "And Prince needs to smile more."

"Prince was upset that he had to do such a menial task for me," RM said. "He's actually a very smiley and happy person, believe it or not."

"Are we going to talk about JK and Prince all night? Because this may be my first ever date, but I don't think we're supposed to spend it talking about other men. I mean, if this is a date. It's okay if it's not. I did say it would be my first, right?"

"Wait, this is your first ever date?" RM asked. He leaned forward slightly to show his intrigue.

"You seem surprised," I said.

"Very. You're a beautiful woman, Little Detective."

"You know if this is a date, you should call me by my name. Being called a detective might seem like we're up to something."

"But Little Detective is such a cute pet name."

"You call all your girls pet names like this?" I raised an eyebrow.

RM looked down at the table before looking me in the eyes. He spoke in a low, sexy voice. "You're the only girl that matters to me, Ana."

And for the first time in my life, I felt my heart skip a beat.